1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to price and information devices, specifically for retail point-of-purchase aids.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
All products in a retail store environment require an informational or price "tag" to provide information to consumers about a product. Pricing information, in addition to other information, such as "Sale", "Best Value", "Special", "Just", "Now", warranty information, features and benefits, material, type or style, size, instructions or directions, etc. can all prove to be helpful to the consumer.
Existing devices take a tremendous quantity of time and require significant manipulation to affix to the product, are very difficult to remove from the product once applied, are not removable at all, are not re-usable once removed, are very expensive to produce, are not easily visible from either side, cannot be affixed to both sides, or simply do not work with certain types of products.
In the case of jewelry, and many other dimensional or rounded products, existing price/information devices suffer from a number of disadvantages:
a) Adhesive-back devices may not, or will not, work with certain products (i.e. jewelry, giftware, accessories, etc.) and hide important information in cases where they will work. (Many companies produce adhesive-back labels and tags.) PA1 b) "String tags", Jewelry Tags, Lock-on Tags, Sale Tags, Inventory Tags, Reusable Tags, Duratags, etc. (marketed by many companies, including Avery-Dennison Corporation, Arch Crown, Inc., D & G Sign and Label, Ready Made division of Cornerstone Direct Corporation, Seton Nameplate Company, Interstate Label Company, etc.) are extremely difficult and time consuming to affix to, and remove from, a product (i.e. a ring or a necklace), taking a considerable amount of manipulation, number of movements and time. This is especially critical when tagging/retagging a large number of items. PA1 c) The necessary length of string in String Tags allows the tag to lay far away from the specific product to which it relates, in most cases laying closer to a different product. PA1 d) String tags are cost prohibitive to print 2-sided. Consequently the pricing or information cannot be read by the consumer if the tag is laying face down (happens often) and it is difficult and time-consuming to ensure that they lay face up. PA1 e) When a series of different price points are produced at the same time, it is difficult, extremely time-consuming and expensive to sort into sequential order, making it very difficult and time consuming to locate the proper price tag for a specific product. PA1 f) If a multitude of items are arranged together (for example in a ring tray) and bear a string tag, the display becomes very sloppy and messy as strings and tickets are strewn everywhere. PA1 g) Plastic Eyelet tags and Button-fast tags (marketed by Arch Crown, Inc., D & G Sign and Label, Interstate Label, etc.) are labor-intensive to affix, are not removable (without destroying the tag or label), are expensive to produce and are not pre-sorted in price order. PA1 h) For watches, Slip-on tags (Arch Crown, Inc.) will not work with bracelet-style (closed band) watches, requiring additional tag styles to be inventoried. PA1 i) Tags with plastic Lock Ties (Arch Crown, Inc., Interstate Label, D & G Sign & Label, etc.) are difficult and time consuming to apply, are not removable, and are expensive. PA1 j) Pressure Sensitive String tags, Pressure sensitive tags with Adhesive-free shanks, Tag-ware tags and Computer tags are not predictable as to how they fall or lay next to the product. They cannot be removed without destroying the tag and thus cannot be re-used. By their very design, they lay in such a manner that they cannot be viewed or read easily. PA1 k) Other adhesive-style price/information tags are sloppy because their placement is unpredictable, they are not re-usable, are difficult to remove, and leave a sticky residue on the product when they are removed. PA1 l) Jewelry tag marking device U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,208 (1979) Stalhut is a tag for marking pricing on jewelry but consists of a completely different configuration and operation. PA1 m) Auto Key Ring Tag, U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,148 (1991) Neal, serves as an identification tag, but is adhesive-backed, not re-usable, and specifically related to automotive key identification. PA1 n) Placard for Curved Objects U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,207 (1994) Wagner is specifically designed for curved objects but is not of a similar configuration or purpose. PA1 o) Several types of thin, flat closures have been proposed--for example in U.K. patent 883,771 to Britt et al. (1961) and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,164,250 (1965), 3,417,912 (1968), 3,822,441 (1974), 4,361,935 (1982), and 4,509,231 (1985) all to Paxton; all have their primary purpose as a closure, not as providing pricing or information. This Price and Information device is not intended for use as a closure, but rather to provide pricing and information in a logical, easy-to-read manner, in close proximity to the product. PA1 a) Easy to affix to a product; PA1 b) Easy to remove from a product . . . especially beneficial when tagging hundreds of items in a store, when trying on a product, (a ring for example) when prices require changing, when taking inventory, when re-tagging for special events, or when an item is sold; PA1 c) Re-usable after being removed; PA1 d) Information appears in close proximity to the product it describes; PA1 e) Inexpensive to produce; PA1 f) Cost-effective to produce 2-sided to provide greater visibility and flexibility; PA1 g) Designed so that Pricing or Information appears close to the product to which it relates; PA1 h) Information can be easily seen and read from either side of the product, its configuration enhances easy viewing; PA1 i) Comes pre-sorted in sequential order making it quick and simple to locate the correct price/information for the product, cutting time and cost; PA1 j) Is neat, as the direction and orientation on how the tag will lay is predictable; PA1 k) Does not require special apparatus or devices to affix; PA1 l) Leaves no residue on the product; PA1 m) Can be printed any color ink on any color stock, and any material having desired qualities; PA1 n) Can be seen and read equally well from either side of the product; PA1 o) Is universal in size and works with a wide range of products equally well, (i.e. works with all styles of watches), also reducing inventory of price tags/information devices; PA1 p) The information will not cover up other important information on the product's label.